Railway-crossing signal



Oct. 6, 1925.

E. M. BOCK RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNAL( Filed Sent, 1923 Patented Oct. 6,1925.

asaea a EVERETT M. BOOK, ELKHART, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-CROSSING SIGNAL.

Application filed September 10, 1923. Serial No. 661,746.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, EVERETT M. Boon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elkhart, in the county of Logan and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Railway-Crossing Signal, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention is a modification and improvement of the inventionset forth in my application, Serial 630,004, railway crossing signal,filed April 5, 1923.

The purposes of the invention are: to provide, in conjunction with astationary vertical semaphore standard, a hollow sheet metal staffrotative on the upper end of the standard and carrying the semaphorearm, said staff being capable of withstanding shot discharged from shotguns by thoughtless or malicious persons using the semaphore as atarget, said staff having also a lengthwise member removable to giveaccess to the interior of the staff; to provide ballbearings between thestandard and the staff preventing swaying of the staff by wind pressureor other means; to provide means to. prevent lifting the stafi' off theupper end of the standard; to provide in conjunction with a solenoid,effective to actuate the staff, devices connecting the solenoid with thestaff in such manner that during the first stage of the inward movementof the plunger of the solenoid it may move Without appreciable effect onthe staff to provide means operatively connecting the plunger of thesolenoid with the staff in such manner that when the staff is at rest,at either limit of its oscillation, the centres of the co-operatingconnecting devices will all be in line with each other and will preventaccidental rotation of the staff in either direction; to provide meanseffective to aid in the initial retraction of the plunger of thesolenoid; and to provide other improved structural details.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing to whichreference is hereby made, and'will now be described in detail and thenovel features thereof will be recited in the claims.

Figure 1 is a diagram of a block of railway track, showing my improvedrailway crossing signal in operative relation to the track;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a railway crossingsignal embodying my invention;

plan of the same railway The same reference numerals designate the sameparts in all the views.

The semaphore proper comprises a base 6, a vertical standard 7 fixed inthe base, a tubular staff 8 rotative on the upper end of the standard,semaphore arms 9 at the upper end of the staff, and a coiled spring 10con necting the staff with the standard. The standard 7 is preferably. agas pipe of sufficientrigidity, having a polygonal foot 12 embedded inthe base, which prevents lifting, or rotating of the standard, andhaving at its upper end a hardened steel cone 13 on which the staffrotates freely. A block 14, fixed in the staff 8, has a central conicaldepression 15 to receive the cone point 13. The staff 8 has also alengthwise member 16 connected With the body of the staff by bolts 17,so that the member may be removed to give access to the interior of thestaff. The lower end of the staff is closed by a pair of matched blocks18. Each block 18 has a semi-circular groove 19 to receive balls 20which roll freely in the circular channel formed by the matched grooves.Each block has also a semi-circular recess 21 accommodatinga pin 22extending through the standard 7 and projecting into thecircular chamberformed bythe juncture of'the semi-circular'recesses 21. sembled, the pin22 Will prevent upward sliding of the blocks 'on the standard. Theblocks 18 have channels '23 which, when united, form a rectangularchannel to receive the lower end of the staff 8. 24 extend through thestaff and through the blocks and connect them securely. The lowerterminal 25 of the spring 10 engages in a hole in one of the blocks, andthe upper terminal 26 of the spring engages in a hole in the standard 7,thereby connecting the staff with the standard in such manner thatrotation of the staff in one direction will act to stress the spring,andreversely, the

When the partsare ass Bolts parts til spring will act to effect reverserotation of the staff. An arm 27, secured on the staff, has a lengthwiseslot 28 to accommodate a roller 32 which travels in the slot. A lever 29is supported on a stationary block 31, having a pivot 30 on which thelever operates. A solenoid 33, located in operative relation to thelever, receives a plunger 34, connected with a stem 35 which ispivotally connected at 36 with the lever 29. One terminal 38 of thesolenoid is connected with a battery 37 or other source of electricsupply, and the other terminal 39 is electrically connected with one ofthe rails 40. The other rail is electrically connected with the pole 41of the battery. Insulating blocks 42, between the ends of the alignedrails, divide the track into blocks of suitable len ths, insulated fromeach other.

11 upright spring 43 on a stationary block 44, in the path of the lever29, stops the lever at the limit of the right-hand swing of the longmember of the lever (Fig. 4), and when the lever stops in the positionindicated by dotted lines, the spring exerts slight pressure against thelever so that the spring 44 will assist the spring 10 at the instant ofthe beginning of the reverse swing, to start outward movement of theplunger 34.

To operate the signal, the engine or car running on the block will closethe electric circuit to cause the battery to energize the solenoid topull on. the stem 35 to operate the lever 29 to actuate the arm 28 toeffect a quarter rotation of the staff on the stand ard to stress thespring 10, and to cause the to occupy the position indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 4, the semaphore arms being set across the highway to warnpersons that a train is coming; and that position will be maintained solong as the engine or car remains on the block. When the vehicle leavesthe block, the electric circuit will be broken, and thereupon the spring10 will immediately act to rotate the semaphore back to its originalposition.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a rigid,stationary, vertical standard; a polygonal shot-proof metal staff; ablock secured in the staff and supporting it on the standard; fillerblocks closing the lower end of the staff and each having asemi-circular way; balls rolling in the circular way formed by the unionof .said semi-circular ways and contacting with the circumference of thestaff to prevent swaying of the staff; and a spring attached to andcoiled around the standard and having one end attached to one of saidfiller blocks, said spring being stressed upon rotation of the stafi inone direction and acting to effect reverse rotation of the staff.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a rigidstationary, vertical standard; a staff rotative on the upper end of thestandard; filler blocks closing the lower" end of the staff and-havingrecesses united to form a circular chamber; a coiled spring connectedwith one filler block and with the standard and stressed upon rotationof the staff in one direction and acting to effect reverse rotation ofthe staff; and a pin' extending through the standard and projecting intothe chamber formed by the united filler blocks and preventing upwardsliding of the staff on the standard.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a rigid,stationary, vertical standard; a polygonal shot-proof metal staffrotative on the upper end of the standard; a spring coiled around saidstandard and connected with said stafl a slotted arm fixed on the staff;an oscillative lever actuating said arm; and a solenoid actuating saidlever to effect rotation of the staff, to stress the spring and maintainthat condition so long as the solenoid is effective.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a rigid,stationary, vertical standard; a polygonal shot-proof metal staffrotative on the upper end of the standard; a main spring coiled aroundand connected with the standard and with the staff; a slotted arm fixedon the staff; an oscillative lever actuating said arm; a solenoid actuating said lever to effect rotation of the staff to stress the mainspring; and a supplemental spring stressed by said operating lever andco-acting with and main spring to effect initial outward movement of theplunger upon demagnetization of the solenoid.

In witness whereof, I hereunto sign my name at Williamsville, Illinois,this 5th day of. September, 1923.

EVERETT BOCK.

